


We build these roads out of ruination

by Fleur_de_Lure



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe, LITERALLY, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26248678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleur_de_Lure/pseuds/Fleur_de_Lure
Summary: “You deserve it,” Kisuke had whispered to Ichigo, fiercely, outlining a plan that was crazy and impossible.“We deserve it, I don’t go without you,” he’d replied.“I can’t reverse time, I can’t send us back, but I can send us away, another world, similar maybe. We’d have a chance there,” Kisuke explained to a somber Yoruichi and Ichigo. Maybe he meant a chance to win, to live, or maybe he meant a chance to be happy, Kisuke wasn’t sure.“Let’s do it,” Yoruichi had said, more fire in her voice than she’d had in ages. “There’s nothing left for us here.”OREven in another dimension/universe/world/whatever there are problems that need resolving.
Relationships: Kurosaki Ichigo/Urahara Kisuke
Comments: 54
Kudos: 319





	1. Waking Up

“Ichi-bo’s my cousin here,” is the first thing Yoruichi says to him when he comes dashing into her office, eyes wide and decades of memories competing in his head. It’s clear she recognizes the wild-eyed look he possesses as he stumbles in, sandals he’s no longer used to wearing tied too loose around his ankles and haori missing.

When he first awoken, confused and disoriented, blinking up at a ceiling he recognizes vaguely but hasn’t seen in well over a hundred years, there is a brief rising panic before he remembers _the plan._ The plan that had _worked_ , somehow, against all odds. His first instinct is to find Ichigo or Yoruichi, but he doesn’t know where Ichigo might be in this new and familiar but unrecognizable world, Yoruichi though is easier. He can’t imagine a world where she isn’t the leader of the Omnitsukido. So, he’d thrown on the shihakushou he’d long grown unaccustomed to wearing and dropped out of his window to make the run over to the Second division.

“What?” Kisuke gasps, confused, except a moment later he isn’t. A moment later his mind fills with memories from the life _this_ Urahara Kisuke lived before he punted a hundred and fifty years worth of other memories across universes or dimensions or realities or _whatever_ you might call them. They’re hazy, like memories of a dream, distant in a way, but they’re still there now that he’s actively looking for them and examining them.

He remembers Shiba Ichigo now, son of Shiba Isshin and his wife Kyoko who used to be a Shihouin. The Ichigo here is smaller in his memories, with finer features and eyes a touch more gold but his hair is still bright and his reiryoku reserves still ridiculous. Other than that, he has very few memories of the boy.

It appears this Urahara Kisuke didn’t interact often with Shiba Ichigo.

“Wild isn’t it? It makes sense, I guess. Back in our world there was an attempt at a match between the Shiba and the Shihouin at one point, but it fell through. Apparently, it went off without a hitch here, and cute little Ichigo was the result. I have baby photos.” Yoruichi shrugs and it’s strange to see her bare shoulders again. Her hair is a little longer than he remembers it being during their time in the Gotei 13, but shorter than it was when they tried their desperate last prayer for a better future.

“How long have you,” Kisuke trails off, unsure how to put it. How long have you been here, how long have you remembered? Something like that.

“Two months or so. I was starting to think I was alone.” She says it casually but Kisuke can see the slowly easing tension in her neck, can hear the subtle tightness in her voice. She looks tired. Not as tired as they all had looked those last few years, this Yoruichi lacking the years of physical strain, but still more tired than she should.

Her worry over the past two lonely months is evident. Kisuke predicted they would all arrive roughly simultaneously, can’t fathom why she had arrived so much sooner.

“And Ichigo, does he,” Kisuke couldn’t finish it, couldn’t let that hope rise.

Yoruichi shook her head, hair fluttering around her face. “No. Not yet.”

_Yet_ though, she said. And he himself had only just appeared, two months late.

“That’s fine. If it’s happening based on when we went through the gate then he’d be last,” Kisuke says brightly, trying to convince himself as much as Yoruichi that he isn’t worried. The gate built out of layers and layers of Kido required massive amounts of reiatsu to power it, so it only made sense for Ichigo to go through last.

But what if something went wrong?

‘No, don’t think like that, it worked for me and Yoruichi-san. It will work for Ichigo,’ he thought to himself, jaw clinching a bit. It had to. Kisuke couldn’t imagine living in this world without Ichigo, _his_ Ichigo.

It was a plan born of desperation and a sheer, clinging stubbornness to make things better, at least for them, the only ones left. Or maybe it was born of spite. Kisuke had done many things out of spite over years.

_“You deserve it,”_ Kisuke had whispered to Ichigo, fiercely, outlining a plan that was crazy and impossible.

_“We deserve it, I don’t go without you,”_ he’d replied.

_“I can’t reverse time, I can’t send us back, but I can send us away, another world, similar maybe. We’d have a chance there,”_ Kisuke explained to a somber Yoruichi and Ichigo. Maybe he meant a chance to win, to live, or maybe he meant a chance to be happy, Kisuke wasn’t sure.

_“Let’s do it,”_ Yoruichi had said, more fire in her voice than she’d had in ages. _“There’s nothing left for us here.”_

She hadn’t been wrong. So many had died and the world was so broken. There was no winning by that point, only dogged survival.

“Kisuke!” Yoruichi calls, a little louder than normal, looking at him expectantly. “I know it’s hard when you first get here, but try to stay with me.”

“Ah, of course, Yoruichi-san,” says Kisuke cheerfully, flicking his wrist in a motion that should send his fan out of his sleeve into his hand, only he doesn’t have his fan here. He feels awkward and wrongfooted with the realization. Yoruichi snorts in that delicate, feminine way of hers, easily recognizing the movement.

“There’s a lot to get used to, things are different here, and yet still so similar. It’s, unsettling, at first.”

Kisuke tilts his head in agreement. He doesn’t yet know how much is different, but he’d never expected to find an identical world. Had in fact looked specifically for one that wasn’t because he needed a world where the three of them would be close, at least physically, to each other.

It took weeks, months, shifting through the strange readings he’d been able to pull off the gate to find a suitable place. One without one or more of them dead or not born or just too far away from the other. Months spent hidden away under layers of barriers, ignoring the situation outside. Kisuke hadn’t felt guilty about that, but Ichigo had, the corners of his eyes growing tight. In the end Kisuke had settled on the first acceptable world he’d found.

Funny how the worlds all had different rates of time. Some had seemed far in the future, this one in the past. If the memories he has are correct he’s been a captain for two years here, but it’s already 1892.

“At least we’re here now,” Kisuke says, walking around Yoruichi’s office to a cabinet. He opens it and then opens the false back, pulling out a bottle of sake. “I supposed some things really do never change.”

Kisuke holds it up in questions and Yoruichi cackles as she takes two small sake cups out of a desk drawer. It might be a little early for drinking, but the situation warrants it. It’s not everyday that you wake up in a new universe.

“Well, it is me, after all,” she leans forward with a sharp grin as Kisuke pours for the two of them before sitting in the one, highly uncomfortable chair Yoruichi keeps. Uncomfortable on purpose to discourage visitors.

It’s a little strange being in this office again. He glances around curiously as he pours for them cataloging small differences. Startles when he realizes there’s no bodyguard lurking behind her, had been none at the door. When Yoruichi sat as the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukido she’d always been accompanied by bodyguards, even if she’d never needed them.

“It’s good to see you whole again,” Kisuke tells her after they drain their first serving, politely refilling her dish for her when she holds it out. “What happened to your guards?”

“Can’t say I miss that arm you built me, no offense. That thing itched like a bitch. As for the guards… I couldn’t get used to the hovering. Felt wrong”

“None taken,” Kisuke replied. He too didn’t miss the leg prosthetic he’d been forced to rely on. And it was nice having two kidneys again. It also made sense she’d find the constant presence of bodyguards uncomfortable now, after years of not having them. “What do I need to know?”

He could figure it out on his own of course. This Kisuke probably kept journals like he had and he could sift through the memories given enough time, but there was no reason not to take advantage of the work Yoruichi already did.

“Hmm, Aizen’s here. Seems like a smug bitch, as ever, but I can’t tell if he’s just an asshole or actually evil here too. I went to a couple of his labs that we found in our world, but there was nothing there.” Yoruichi tossed back another serving before snagging the bottle to pour herself more, manners forgotten. She’s scowling as she does so, bristling like the cat she often turns into.

“That doesn’t mean much. We don’t know when he started those labs in our world and there’s no reason they should be in the same place here anyway,” Kisuke points out, accepting the sake Yoruichi pours out for him. He’s shifting carefully through the memories this Kisuke has of Aizen. Still Fifth division lieutenant, still popular. He never caught Kisuke’s attention here as anything more than competent.

“Yeah, part of me wants to just stab him in the back on principle, but that might create more problems than it solves.” A pause to take a sip of sake. “We’ve seen his shikai.”

Kisuke can remember that, remembers that Aizen lied in this world too about what it did. Unless, did zanpakutou change between worlds? It is a different world, could a soul be different too? This Kisuke possessed Benihime same as him, but perhaps it is possible.

“It’s suspicious,” Kisuke says eventually, thoughts running. Souls were shaped by their experiences, but tended to maintain an unchangeable core that influenced the person.

“No kidding. He’s always around someone it seems, and he could have an illusion up at any time and we wouldn’t really be able to tell. Without knowing just what he’s planning killing him might cause fallout we couldn’t anticipate.”

“Better to wait, and watch,” he agrees. “What else?”

“Ukitake and Kyouraku have the same divisions, except their numbers are reversed.” Yoruichi pulls back, mood lightening and amusement entering her expression. Kisuke’s long been accustomed to her mood changes though.

“Huh, strange.”

“Mmhmm. Kiganjo failed in his attempt so Kenpachi Fumihiro is still leading the Eleventh, which honestly is an improvement. Love’s got a different lieutenant, some woman. She seems capable, but I don’t remember her from our world.”

“Interesting,” Kisuke murmurs.

“Ichigo, though… there’s a problem there.” Yoruichi says, seriously. Her eyes are on Kisuke, tracking his reaction.

“What?” Kisuke shifts through his memories, already becoming used to the process. Somewhere he remembers faint murmurings of a scandal, a clan member sent away from Seireitei in disgrace, a genius with potential given a supposedly honorable discharge but in such a way it’s clear something happened. The memories don’t make sense and are nothing more than rumors for the most part. This world’s Kisuke hadn’t cared enough to pay attention. “He’s been kicked out?”

“Yeah. No one’s quite sure what happened but the rumor is he had some sort of mental breakdown, did _something_ , and it’s only thanks to his clan and his service that he wasn’t arrested. Instead they took away his commission in the Gotei, locked up his Zanpakutou and barred him from entering Seireitei without permission from Central 46. Just what he did is under wraps, a mercy kindly granted by Central 46 to prevent a stain on the Shiba clan’s honor.”

“Which just makes it worse as everyone’s imaginations run wild.”

“Exactly. All in all it has all the makings of a perfect smear campaign. Supposedly only Central 46, the Soutaicho, and Ichigo know exactly what occurred, but we both know how that goes. And then there’s his division.”

“His division?” Kisuke casts his mind back but can’t immediately pull the information out.

“He was the Third Seat of the Fifth Division.” 

The implication is infuriating, and the anger is sudden and immense, as is the fear. Only the decades spent hiding allow him to keep enough control over his reiatsu not to flood the Second. A young Ichigo, well within Aizen’s clutches? Kisuke loathes the thought of it.

“Aizen caused this,” Kisuke bites out, clenching a fist. He wishes again for his fan, for a hat that fell apart three years ago. Whatever expression he’s wearing feels too honest, too raw, to show, even to Yoruichi.

“Probably,” Yoruichi agrees. She’s watching him, warily. She knows well how protective he is of Ichigo, how defensive and possessive he gets. “But Ichigo isn’t saying anything.”

“You spoke to him?” He can’t help leaning forward in his seat, unable to remain casual. He’s been out of the Omnitsukido too long to effectively hide his feelings, at least where Ichigo is concerned.

“I tried. I went to the Shiba property out in the East 2nd District he’s been holed up in, but he’s refusing visitors. I can’t force him to see me, and breaking in seemed like a bad idea. I have my status as clan head and captain, but he’s in a clan too and doesn’t have to bow to that kind of pressure if he doesn’t want to, and Kaien would never force him to. Unfortunately, I was never very close to him before so it makes sense he wouldn’t want to see me now. I’ve tried subtly inquiring with the other Shiba, but that got me nowhere. They’ve closed in ranks around him.”

“Unsurprising.” The Shiba are well known for their ‘Family First’ nature, are, despite all their seeming gregariousness, prone to suspicion and defensiveness with outsiders. “ You said Zangetsu was locked up? Not broken?” Broken won’t be a stumbling block for long, but it will be annoying.

“Not as far as I can tell. Supposedly it’s locked up in the Fifth division. Which is unfortunate. If he had been labeled a criminal we’d have Zangetsu here at the Second, but since he isn’t it’s been left in the care of his former captain.” Yoruichi taps short nails on her desk in a rhythmic pattern, nails clean and short and even, hands less rough and scarred than Kisuke had seen them in years. Everything about Yoruichi seems softer, not _soft_ , never soft, but _softer_. He wonders if he’d look softer too when he gets the chance to look in the mirror. “Getting to it would be hard. Not impossible, but hard, and doing so now might bring more censure down on Ichi-bo.”

“We need more information.”

“Mmmhmmm.”

“We need to talk to Ichigo.”

“He won’t be your Ichigo,” Yoruichi warns, cutting to the heart of the matter. It’s true that Kisuke is almost desperate to see him. Needs to reassure himself that Ichigo is alive and well and unharmed. Desires his own Ichigo like breathing. And this Ichigo isn’t that Ichigo. Isn’t the one he shares years of convoluted history with.

“Not yet, Yoruichi-san. But he’s still an Ichigo. I can’t imagine him being much different.”

Kisuke couldn’t quite quantify the look that Yoruichi gives him then. Something a little like admonishment and a little like pity and a little like concern. He ignores it. There are some things even Yoruichi doesn’t fully understand about him.

“I’ll see what I can do about getting us in to see Ichigo. I might be able to wrangle it through Kuukaku. In the meantime you should reacquaint yourself with running a division.”

Kisuke groans theatrically, mostly to cause the smile to rise on Yoruichi’s lips.

“Must I?”

“Yes, absolutely Urahara-taichou.” Yoruichi cackles at him, kicking him out of her office.

Stepping back out into Seireitei, preparing to set off towards the Twelfth Division, Kisuke looks around him. In his mad dash to the Second earlier he barely glanced at the city, too desperate to see Yoruichi, to confirm that he wouldn’t be alone. It’s a familiar and much loved location, but it doesn’t feel like home. Won’t, he thinks to himself, until he sees Ichigo again.


	2. Familiar and New

Hiyori accosts him the moment he arrives back at the Twelfth Division which isn’t surprising when Kisuke thinks about it but which is shocking in the moment. His hand naturally goes to Benihime’s hilt at her loud cry of indignation as he dodges the kick she launches at him. In the time it takes Hiyori to land and twist back around to face him again Kisuke has schooled himself, pulling his hand off his sword and evening out his expression.

“Where were you!?” Hiyori demands, hands on her hips, scowling up at him fiercely. Her reiatsu is familiar, nostalgic, but lacking the Hollow bite Kisuke grew accustomed too.

Kisuke starts edging his way towards his office, ignoring the others in the division’s courtyard watching the two of them in amusement. He can’t remember any of them, but that’s unsurprising. Kisuke had not cared much for most of those in division before aside from the low level feeling of responsibility he’d carried.

“I just went to pay Yoruichi-san a visit, nothing too exciting,” he tries to placate Hiyori.

She looks surprised. “You went to the Second? Why?”

“Hmmm, that’s personal, Hiyori-fukutaichou,” Kisuke singsongs at her causing her face to turn red in indignation.

“Oh, so you and Shihouin-taichou are talking again?” she retorts nastily. Which, _ow_ , thinks Kisuke, if he hadn’t long since come to terms with the uncomfortable years after his instatement as a captain when he and Yoruichi had awkwardly and somewhat bitterly avoided each other that would have hurt.

“You are so interested in my affairs. Are you jealous?” Kisuke pauses in his walk through the division’s halls to give Hiyori a bemused look.

“WHO’D BE FUCKING JEALOUS,” Hiyori squawks at the top of her lungs, attempting to kick him in the shin for good measure. “What is with you today? You’re acting weird.” She glowers at him suspiciously.

“Am I?” Kisuke prevaricates. She isn’t wrong though, he’s acting much too much like his present self and not at all like the awkward, socially avoidant captain he had been only two years into his tenure. Shifting through the memories of _this_ Kisuke he learns that it was much the same in this dimension.

“Yeah. Did you hit your head? Did you huff some of your weird chemicals down in that hole you call a lab? Should I get Unohana-taichou?” She becomes gleeful with that last question. Unohana has more than once lectured Kisuke on lab safety after an incident and Hiyori enjoys it immensely every time.

“No, no. I am not hurt and I am not under the affects of any mind altering substances.” _Unless you count the dimension travel,_ he thinks.

“Then why are you being so weird?”

It says something about him that he missed Hiyori’s lack of reverence and smart mouth. They were never quite friends but there was a certain understanding of each other between the two of them. Despite her constant disrespect of him Hiyori had been an excellent lieutenant, easily taking up the daily operations of the Division and helping him make any of the whims he had a reality. He would not have been able to open his Research department without her.

“Maybe I’m just finally coming out of my shell?”

“Can you go back in?”

“Ah! You wound me Hiyori-fukutaichou.” He wishes again for his fan to better play up his hurt. He’ll have to grab one the next time he leaves the division.

“I really will wound you if you don’t go do your paperwork, Urahara-taichou.” The way she says taichou is more mocking than anything.

“Fine, in order to prevent a stabbing I will go do my paperwork,” he says. They’ve reached his office by now so he quickly ducks into it, closing the door behind him in Hiyori’s face, enjoying the shocked expression she wears.

“What. The. Fuck.” He hears Hiyori whisper to herself before her footsteps retreat to her own office across the way.

Looking around his office Kisuke is struck by the fact that it truly looks identical to what he remembers, down to the extra haori hanging from a hook by the door and the dusty, fake plant Hiyori had stashed in there after he killed 3 real ones through neglect. But then this had never been his _real_ office, that was down in his lab. This was just the show office, where he filled out the requisite division paperwork that he could not dodge or shove off on someone else and where he very rarely met visitors. There is nothing of him in this room, although that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Seeing Hiyori again brought up a lot of memories. Good times, bad times. Mostly bad times. And of course it brought back the last time he’d seen her, bloody and cold and beyond saving. They’d burned her body with Kido, not having time to bury it.

She hadn’t been the first of the Visored to die, but she had marked the point where Kisuke had truly given up hope in that world.

He shoves the memories to the side, pointless to dwell on the world they’d abandoned.

He takes a seat at his desk, riffling through the stacked pages left for him to review and complete. The chair is more uncomfortable than he remembers. He pulls open the desk drawers both in idle curiosity and because he can’t remember where he kept his writing utensils.

There’s an unsurprising amount of weapons stashed away, several writing utensils, what looks like incomplete and abandoned paperwork jammed into the back of one of the bottom drawers, a vial of _something_ he can’t find a memory of, and a bag of candy, age unknown. Pretty standard.

With a sigh he drags the first page to him. He’d never admit to it, but he doesn’t actually mind the paperwork. He didn’t miss it, not at all, and would generally rather do anything else but fill out forms in triplicate, but once he sits down to begin the process it’s not exactly arduous. Probably because the forms only require about ten percent of his attention, leaving the rest of his mind free to wander.

He’s idly going through and signing off on missions and requisitions and requests for leave while contemplating his next moves. He needs more information, craves it really. Wants to know everything about this new dimension and the people in it, the political situation, the state of Seireitei, what’s happening in Hueco Mundo. Most of all he wants to know about Ichigo and Aizen.

Unfortunately, information about Ichigo and Aizen will probably be the hardest to get. He could request their service records, but without a valid reason the request would likely be denied and is sure the garner unwanted attention. He could try to gather information through spying, but his targets are good enough to spot him and being caught could be a disaster. Attempting to subtly interrogate people close to Ichigo or Aizen would work, if only he wasn’t known to abhor most social interaction. He also isn’t close enough with the likes of Shinji or Kaien to make it seem casual, and Shinji is a suspicious bastard who might cause problems for him in the future.

At the very least he could pull up Ichigo’s Academy records easily enough, but they weren’t likely to tell him much. He’d do it anyway because Kisuke just _had_ to know how Ichigo did, but it is unlikely to be useful in solving the mystery of Ichigo’s discharge from the Gotei 13.

Considering all his options Kisuke decides that trying to speak to Shinji is his best bet. Although not friends exactly, the two are friendly. Years after the fact Kisuke can recognize that Shinji had considered Kisuke something of a small project during his time as captain, and the hazy memories he has of this Kisuke’s relationship with this world’s Shinji shows something very similar. Asking about Aizen would probably either raise suspicion in Shinji, or worse cause him to think Kisuke is interested in Aizen for personal reasons.

Kisuke shudders at the very thought, pen scrapping harshly over paper.

However, he might be able to wrangle some information about Ichigo if he plays it right. Worth trying at least.

He flips another form over, placing in the stack of completed work. Luckily it falls to someone else to order the stack afterward and make sure they get delivered to the right location once Kisuke finishes filling them out.

As he completes the last few forms Kisuke turns to a rough outline for the next few days. He needs to familiarize himself with his division, check up on his lab and see what’s going on there, locate, decode, and read the journals from this world’s Kisuke, get a rundown of the political situation in Seireitei from Yoruichi, and finally, speak to Shinji.

He sighs as he straights the stack of papers by tapping it against the desk. It would be a busy few days, best to get started immediately.

But first to drop this stack onto Hiyori’s desk. Time for it to be her problem.

* * *

The next few days pass in a blur for Kisuke. This world is incredibly similar to his own but just different enough to be unsettling at times. Like walking down a flight of stairs and thinking there’s one more than there is. A missed step that disoriented the walker.

Finding the journals hadn’t been too hard, buried under a floorboard protected by a kido seal as they were. Decoding them was also easy. They weren’t as helpful as Kisuke might have hoped however. Most of the information in them dedicated to experiments, epiphanies, and small rants about daily annoyances he ran into. Familiar and fairly unhelpful.

The experiments in the lab were ones Kisuke has already long completed, a few he’ll let continue simply because stopping them now would be odd, and others, like the preliminary work on the Hogyoku, scrapped for the time being.

If they need the Hogyoku Kisuke knows how to make it already, but hopefully they wouldn’t need such a thing here.

The division changed very little between the two worlds, but then Kisuke wouldn’t remember if any of the unseated Shinigami were different or not, having never paid that much attention to them before. Mayuri is a problem he doesn’t quite yet know how to resolve. On the one hand, he’s useful. On the other hand, he’s insane, immoral, and just generally unpleasant to be around.

Kisuke will do something about that eventually.

At the end of the third day Kisuke gets ready to sneak out of the division. Hiyori has taken to watching him closely whenever she sees him, deeply unsettled by his overnight personality change. Acting more like his old self would probably serve Kisuke well here, but he can’t bring himself to do it. Instead he just does as he wills and ignores Hiyori’s mistrustful scowls.

He checks that he has his fan and his wallet because he plans to confront Shinji at the bar he knows Shinji favors tonight, and it’s very likely he’ll end up paying for it, literally. Content that he has all that he needs Kisuke silently slips out his window, using shunpo to get out of the division unspotted.

It doesn’t take long to arrive at the bar. It’s close to the Fifth Division and popular among the higher ranked Shinigami. Kisuke typically only enters the place when dragged there by someone but today he steps through the door of his own volition. A frisson of discomfort runs down his spine as he eyes the crowded bar. Kisuke has never enjoyed crowded spaces, would much rather spend time with the select few people that don’t exhaust him emotionally.

To his relief Shinji is sitting at a table in the back, sitting next to him is Kyouraku, which is mildly inconvenient but not enough to dissuade Kisuke. As he approaches, deliberately casual, he takes the time to observe differences. Shinji’s hair is shorter here, long enough to skim the top of his shoulder blades but not the hip length hair Shinji had once worn as a division captain. Kyouraku looks identical though, to Kisuke’s relief.

Shinji spots him first, before he’s halfway through the bar, and as his attention turns to Kisuke so does Kyouraku’s.

“Well, look who crawled outta his cave, ta what do we owe this honor,” Shinji calls, motioning for Kisuke to take the empty seat across from him. Kyouraku nods at him as he takes a drink.

“Oh, just, needed some fresh air,” Kisukes says inanely.

“Uh-huh,” Shinji replies, clearly disbelieving. “Hiyori says ya been actin’ weird lately.”

“Maybe I’m just finally acting like my true self,” Kisuke demurs, turning to the recently arrived waitress to put in an order.

“Sure, so whattaya really doin’ here?”

“I can’t get anything past you, Hirako-taichou,” Kisuke says, fan out and open in front of his face. “I was hoping to ask you some questions.”

“About what?” asks Shinji, already suspicious. Kisuke is already feeling harried, he’d hoped this would go better.

“Well, perhaps it should wait a bit. You and Kyouraku-taichou were discussing something before I arrived, I’d hate to interrupt.”

“You’re no interruption Urahara-san,” Kyouraku assures him. “We were just talking shop, nothing important.”

“Is that so,” Kisuke stalls as the waitress returns with his order and a new bottle for Kyouraku, leaning back so she can set it in front of him.

“Just spit it out,” demands Shinji.

“Very well, I was wondering if I could ask you about Shiba Ichigo-san.” Kisuke can’t help the defensive movement of his fan, blocking his expression, and he casts his eyes to his drink. He tries to appear casual, like he’s not that interested.

Shinji sits back in his chair after he asks, eyeing Kisuke speculatively. Kisuke knows he’s captured Shinji’s interest, but he’d given that up as a lost cause the moment he’d decided on this plan. He wonders if this Shinji is suspicious of Aizen. Surely he must be, Aizen is just a naturally suspicious person after all.

“Why’re you interested in him?” Shinji asks eventually, he tilts his head at Kisuke, eyes intense.

“Yoruichi has been friends with Kuukaku for a very long time,” replies Kisuke. It’s not a lie, but if Shinji jumps to the wrong conclusion regarding Kisuke’s interest that can only be good for Kisuke.

“Yeah, but I’ve already had Kaien in my office playin’ twenty questions.”

“Ah, but perhaps they think you’ll be more likely to speak to another captain,” Kisuke tries, pretending at jovialness he doesn’t quite feel.

“Cut the bullshit, tell me why you really wanna know and maybe I’ll give you an answer,” Shinji tells him. Across from him Kyouraku raises an eyebrow in Kisuke’s direction.

Kisuke can’t help the pout that raises to his face, although he tries to hide it by lifting his drink to his lips. It’s not as though Kisuke has any bad motives. He debates his next move in his mind, considering and then throwing away options. After a moment he decides that honesty might be his only saving grace here.

“Very well. My interest in Shiba-san is of a personal nature,” he relents.

Kisuke can tell that whatever Shinji and Kyouraku are expecting him to say it wasn’t that. The two blink at him, then turn to blink at each other. Kyouraku takes on an expression of amusement while Shinji just looks baffled.

“You mean for like, an experiment? I know his reserves are, frankly, ridiculous,” Shinji finally tries.

“No, not for an experiment.”

Shinji takes this moment to lean over the table, close to Kisuke, who pulls back instinctively and interposes the fan between them.

“You will be murdered,” Shinji hisses at him. “The Shiba don’t fuck around and if they know you have designs on Ichigo-chan you’re gonna get found in a ditch one day.”

“What is it about him? Is it the power? The hair? Supposedly he’s a genius and that definitely seems like something you’d be into,” Kyouraku asks. “Although I think we all thought you were still carrying a touch for your old captain.”

“I don’t think I’m going to answer that,” Kisuke responds to Kyouraku with false cheer, ignoring Shinji completely.

Shinji meanwhile has slumped back in his chair, downing his drink. “You tryin’ to tell me you wanna know because you’re concerned ‘bout him?”

“Is that so unusual?”

Shinji considers him for a moment. “No, not really. You’ve gotta soft heart under all the awkward and creepy.”

“Thank you, you flatter me.”

“I s’pose I shouldn’t be surprise someone like Ichigo-chan would catch your attention,” Shinji continues as if Kisuke hadn’t spoken.

“They do say opposites attract, although the two aren’t quite opposites,” Kyouraku agrees thoughtfully.

“He’s a little young for you though, ain’t he?” Shinji asks, there’s no judgement in his voice despite the question.

“Come now! They’re both adults, age is just a number!” Kyouraku defends on Kisuke’s behalf.

“Please,” Kisuke says, glancing around to make sure they aren’t attracting attention.

“Oh, I think we’re embarrassing Urahara-kun,” says Kyouraku to a laughing Shinji.

“Alright, alright,” Shinji says as he calms himself. “Look, I’ll tell ya what I told Kaien. I don’t know fuck all. I sent Ichigo-chan out on a simple mission to South 22nd. A few days later he’s been ordered to surrender himself to Central 46. I tried to be in the room but they barred me, said it was confidential, like I don’t have a right to know as his Captain. Next thing I know I’m being told to lock up his zanpakutou in the vault and he’s cleaning out his room. He won’t tell me what happened, refuses to see me every time I go out to where he’s staying. Rumor has it he had some sort of breakdown out in Rukongai. And there is a destroyed town now in the 22nd, but that don’t seem like Ichigo-chan to me, and I can’t find any witnesses to confirm it anyway.”

As Shinji speaks Kyouraku grows somber. Once Shinji finishes the three of them sit, thoughtfully.

“Something, is strange about all of this,” Kyouraku says eventually.

“No kidding,” scoffs Shinji. “Look, Urahara, if you can put that big brain of yours to work and figure this out, I’ll owe you one.”

“Poking into Central 46’s business can be dangerous,” Kyouraku warns.

“It’ll be fine. Urahara’s smart enough not to get caught.” Shinji reaches over and slaps him on the shoulder in emphasis.

“Thank you for your faith in me,” Kisuke coughs out.

“And if he does get caught he knows how to keep his mouth shut.”

“Very cruel, Hirako-taichou.” Kisuke says, pulling away from the hand on his shoulder.

Shinji just laughs at him.

* * *

Later that night he stumbles home, or he pretends to stumble home. He spent the rest of the evening listening to small talk and graciously sitting through bad love advice from both Shinji and Kyouraku who were apparently determined to help him woo Ichigo. Kisuke suspected it was because they thought it would be humorous to watch.

He learned less than he would have liked, but there was somewhere to start. South 22nd District. Kisuke will have to pay a visit to the place, and soon.

He sneaks back in through his window on silent feet, slipping into his bedchamber. As he does he notices a knife stuck into the window frame, pinning a piece of paper under it.

He pulls the knife out, taking the paper and opening it.

“I’ll be paying a visit to Kuukaku on Sunday. You should come with me, it’s been awhile since you’ve seen her. Shiba house, East 2nd, 3:00 pm.”

It isn’t signed, but Kisuke would recognize the handwriting anywhere. He smiles to himself as he lets the letter burn over a candle.

In two days he’ll see Ichigo again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear the next chapter has Ichigo. Please be patient with me.


	3. Questions, no answers

The Shiba house in East 2nd District, Koganetsuchi, is one of the smaller estates owned by the noble family. Large enough for several family members, but not the sprawling main estate in North 1st District or the complex compound within Seireitei’s walls. Rather plain but still well built and appointed it is not the largest estate in the district but it enjoys a prime location near a small river and close to town.

It takes only a few minutes of research to find that this house serves as the main residence of Shiba Isshin and his children. It served as the main residence of Shiba Kyoko until her death a decade prior. And wasn’t that just a tragedy. Even here in an entirely different world Ichigo lost his mother. Kisuke wishes, when he learns this, that he’d been able to locate a world without this particular grief in it.

The house often played host to other Shiba family members as nearly the entire clan is prone to wandering, delighting in it even, making it part of their identity as a clan. Which is why Kuukaku visiting isn’t unusual, and unlikely to garner any untoward attention. And Yoruichi visiting Kuukaku and dragging her best friend along? That was to be expected. Should anyone be watching Ichigo there is plenty of probable deniability to protect them all.

Kisuke meets up with Yoruichi outside the Eastern gate of Seireitei on Sunday, half an hour before they’re meant to arrive at the Shibas’ residence, the both of them out of uniform and wearing casual clothes. Yoruichi looks disgruntled that leggings have yet to be invented and seems to have contented herself with long knit socks under her scandalously short dress instead. Kisuke had been amused to discover that he apparently owns only a single casual yukata and haori, and no casual footwear. It fits what he remembers of himself from back during his short decade as captain yet feels incongruous with what he knows of himself now.

Yoruichi raises a judgmental eyebrow at him when he appears. “Where did you dig that up? Did you steal it from one of your minions?”

Kisuke holds up an arm so Yoruichi can get a closer look, the yukata is mostly grey in color with geometric designs and the haori is a dark green. His uniform shoes feel restrictive with the outfit. A dreamy memory comes to him of Yoruichi stuffing the outfit into his closet, some years before he took the captaincy exam. He cannot recall ever wearing it.

“It seems that this was a gift from you, actually,” Kisuke tells her jovially. A shopping trip looms in his future but finding the time might be difficult. Tessai acquired all his clothing for him back in Karakura, a good thing because he likely would have worn what he had until it fell apart before thinking to replace it.

“Ugh, other me had terrible taste,” Yoruichi teases before pouncing on him, purposefully ruffling his hair into disaster. “Race you!” she calls as she takes off, ‘accidentally’ knocking him to the ground in the process.

Kisuke picks himself off and shunpos after her. Despite the circumstances, despite everything that happened in the past, chasing after Yoruichi fills him with joy. It’s fun, he’s enjoying this. Racing just because they can, testing their speed against each other rather than against enemies or against desperate times. He’s slower than he remembers being, but the running is easier without the prosthetic leg he’d been forced to wear the last few years.

He loses against Yoruichi, but not by much. Training reiatsu is half physical, half mental and though this body lacks the years of training and experience Kisuke gathered, mentally he’s lost nothing. Yoruichi is much the same, although she has always favored physical training over mental and so has lost a little more overall than he has. Both are better off now than they were at this point in their own world, stronger, more determined, wiser. There’s always room for improvement though and Kisuke can’t wait to see what all three of them make of themselves here.

Landing in front of the gate to the Shiba residence Yoruichi turns to give him a baleful eye, pulling his thoughts from a nebulous but bright future to the present.

“Be subtle here, Kisuke,” she warns.

“Whatever do you mean, Yoruichi-san? I am the personification of subtle,” Kisuke argues, fluttering his fan innocently. Neither of them are panting despite the mad dash across two districts. Kisuke could make it through a dozen more districts at this pace no issue, Yoruichi probably more.

Yoruichi barks out a laugh.

“Sure. Look, he doesn’t remember anything and I don’t want to get the entire Shiba clan after you because you made Ichi-bo uncomfortable.”

“Why is everyone so sure that the Shiba clan will murder me for expressing even a hint of interest in Ichigo-chan?” Kisuke feels a little insulted, honestly. He knows he’s not what anyone might consider a great catch, but he’s not entirely disagreeable, and technically he’s of a rank prestigious enough for any clan. Not that the Shiba have every cared much about that to begin with. Sure there had been a little pushback when Kisuke and Ichigo started, well it couldn’t be called dating because there wasn’t exactly time to date, but when they had first moved from friends to something more most of their friends and acquaintances had accepted it easily enough with only a few threats leveled at Kisuke.

The fact that Yoruichi had seen fit to level a couple at Ichigo on Kisuke’s behalf had warmed him immensely at the time.

“Well, they’re protective, and somewhat hostile to outsiders, and you’re…” She trails off before suddenly reaching out to pinch his cheeks. “As far as anyone knows you’re the awkward, creepy, former Maggot’s Nest warden with loose morals and tendency to stab first, experiment on later. You’ve barely ever shown interest in another person except to use them. And they’re not wrong, that’s just not all you are. But until you can prove that it might be a bit dicey if you start flirting as hard with Ichigo as you did back home.”

Kisuke doesn’t bother slapping her hands away. Normally he’d shy away from the touch, uncomfortable with physicality in general. Yoruichi is one of the very few who he accepts touching him, Tessai another, and hadn’t it been so good to see Tessai again, alive and well and in his prime. For so long he’d been shackled by the strain casting two forbidden Kido in quick succession had put on his soul.

“I can behave myself.”

“Really?” her voice and expression are full of doubt as she presses Kisuke’s cheeks together.

“Dat’s rich coming from you, Yoruichi-san,” he slurs out before she releases him.

“Rude,” she admonishes with a smile. “It will be okay. We’ll figure this out, and soon our Ichigo will be back anyway.”

He feels a little anxiety he hadn’t even been aware he was carrying release. Yoruichi was always so good at that, realizing when he was wound up or upset before he even knew. She had always been better at emotions than he was, and that hadn’t changed over the years.

“We should go before they start to wonder what we’re doing out here,” Kisuke says instead of thanking her.

They announce themselves at the gate and are swiftly taken around the side of the house to the garden where Kuukaku sits on the porch, lounging against a pile of pillows she dragged out off the house. She looks a little younger than Kisuke last remembers seeing her, unburdened by the death of her brother, the decline of her clan, the pressure of being clan head. She’s missing an arm still but this time from below the elbow instead of above.

Kisuke wonders if it was still a firework accident or if something else caused it here.

It’s late summer so the garden looks a little dry, but it’s laid out nicely. The fence is ringed with large leafy bushes and a tree hangs over a small koi pond. The garden is a peaceful place without being formal. There are children’s toys and discarded gardening tools. It looks lived in.

“Oi! Yoruichi!” Kuukaku calls, sitting up a little when they’re announced by a servant. There’s a sake cup in her hand and Kisuke would think it a little early for drinking but that’s just Kuukaku.

“Kuukaku-chan!” Yoruichi calls back, bouncing over to take a seat by the other woman. Kisuke blinks and she’s already downing her first cup of sake.

Kisuke approaches slowly, attention already sliding off the two in front of him and towards the house behind. Now that he’s inside the wards of the home he can’t help but spread out his awareness, searching desperately for familiar reiatsu. Yoruichi can probably tell what he’s doing, but Kuukaku only possesses rudimentary training in reiatsu sensing.

He doesn’t find quite what he’s looking for. There are several signals inside the house, most barely perceptible and utterly foreign, servants he classifies them. Two are familiar, one stronger than the other. It takes a moment to pin these as likely belonging to this world’s version of Karin and Yuzu. They feel only marginally different from what he remembers, lacking a little something that must be the Quincy nature of Masaki but stronger now that they aren’t restricted by human bodies.

Towards the back of the house however is a shining beacon of reiatsu. It’s clear that the owner is trying to tamp it down, keep it closely wrapped around them, but to Kisuke it’s like trying to tamp down the sun. The pressure isn’t completely foreign to Kisuke’s senses, but it feels almost distorted, like looking through a fun house mirror. There’s nothing Hollow in it, and so it lacks much of the wild, overbearing nature Kisuke always associated with Ichigo. It’s warm though, and comforting, probably more comforting to Kisuke than it would be to most people.

He wants to run off and locate it, bask in being close to it. Without thinking he steps up on the porch, about to move into the house. A hand wrapping around his ankle stops him. Yoruichi reaching behind her to curl strong fingers around his leg, letting him regain control of himself. As casually as he can Kisuke sinks down next to her, tuning back into the conversation around him even as part of his attention remains on Ichigo.

“-is fine. As bratty as ever,” he hears Kuukaku huff. _Probably about Ganju_ , he thinks.

“He’s just lively,” Yoruichi laughs, pouring out a serving for Kisuke and shoving it into his hands. She sends him a look over her shoulder, at an angle where Kuukaku can’t see. “How’s Kaien?”

Kisuke tosses the sake back. It does little to settle his nerves. He’d prefer tea at this point but it’s a gathering of Yoruichi and Kuukaku, tea was never going to be on offer.

“He’s fine. Busy. Apparently being a lieutenant is more work than a third seat.” Kuukaku snorts. “Why anyone would want to do that much work when they don’t have to I don’t know, but I guess you Shinigami are just nuts like that.”

She grins over at Yoruichi and Kisuke to show she’s joking.

“He has seemed a little, stressed. Even before being promoted.” Yoruichi says thoughtfully, delicately beginning to lead the conversation to what they really want to know.

“Yeah, well, all of us are a little,” Kuukaku moves her single hand in an ambivalent gesture, tilting her empty cup. “None of us quite know what to do about, well…”

“Ichigo?” Yoruichi prods.

“Yeah,” she sighs. Kuukaku holds her cup out for more alcohol. “It’s been a tough few months. None of us know what happened and Ichigo is clearly upset but also refusing to say anything, even to Kaien-nii. And you know Kaien-nii isn’t the type to force it out of him.”

“I don’t think he could if he tried,” Yoruichi says as she pours for Kuukaku.

“That’s true. Ichigo is even more stubborn than most Shiba. It must come from your side of the family.”

Yoruichi flashes a wicked smile, teeth sharp and glinting white.

“Maybe so,” she agrees. “You guys really don’t know anything though?”

“Kaien-nii got a letter from the council of geezers and assholes, but it said a whole lot of nothing. Just that Ichigo disgraced the Gotei 13 and was deemed too dangerous to remain in possession of his sword but out of appreciation for the Shiba clan he would be released to us with the expectation that we’d keep him in line or face public censure as a clan, blah blah blah. Fucking garbage.” Kuukaku scoffs. “Kaien-nii’s tried, Isshin-ji’s tried, I know even his old captain went to bat for him too, but they can’t get anything more from Central and Ichigo only apologizes for ‘bringing shame to the family’ when we try to talk to him.”

Kuukaku eyes Yoruichi over her cup. In that moment she displays some of the fierce focus and determination that define the Shiba as much as family values and gregariousness do.

“You’re like, a spy or some shit, right, Yoruichi-chan?” she asks in response to Yoruichi’s raised brow. “Maybe you can figure out what the hell is going on here?”

Yoruichi doesn’t do anything as obvious as look to Kisuke, but he can tell she’s asking him his opinion. Having Kuukaku’s blessing to meddle will make things easier to some extent. On the other hand, depending on what they find they could put Kuukaku in an awkward situation. Kisuke isn’t sure he cares about though and subtle reaches out to tap Yoruichi twice in the side.

“Well, to be honest,” Yoruichi says as she starts to lie. “I was a little concerned. We’re not especially close but Ichi-bo is still family, and something about all this doesn’t seem quite right. It’s why I asked you to meet me here.”

“I figured it was something like that,” Kuukaku sighs. “He’s been really unhappy since all this happened. Not that he’s saying anything or being obvious about it, but you can tell. At the very least if we understand what happened we might have better luck understanding how to help him.”

“Can we get the letter?” Kisuke asks bluntly. Probably he should be taking the time to comfort Kuukaku but that sort of thing is better left to Yoruichi.

“Don’t have it. Kaien-nii burned it.”

Damn.

“Can we speak to Ichigo?” asks Yoruichi shoving Kisuke back from where he’d leaned across her to speak up.

“You can try. Might be best to wait until dinner. He won’t like it if he thinks you’re cornering him.”

Kisuke knows this is true, so he doesn’t complain as Yoruichi and Kuukaku move on to other topics. Doesn’t try to slip away to the back of the house where Ichigo is even though he’s almost desperate to seem him. Just waits patiently as the afternoon crawls on.

* * *

When dinner finally rolls around Kisuke is full of nervous energy, although he doesn’t show it. For the past few hours his attention has been split between the conversation and his sense of Ichigo deep in the house. A few times he tracks Ichigo as the man move through rooms, occasionally interacting with others. Kisuke can’t quite pinpoint what Ichigo is doing however before the three of them are called in by a smiling and pleasant Shiba Yuzu for the evening meal.

Kisuke isn’t sure of her exact age but she looks somewhere around twelve. Her hair is a little closer in shade to Ichigo’s here and she has slightly tanner skin, clearly something inherited from her mother. She bows politely and greets Yoruichi like family. Kisuke she greets as an acquaintance, but it’s clear they’ve met before.

Kisuke digs through his memories as he follows her to where dinner has been set out. He vaguely remembers following Yoruichi to a few family functions with the Kurosakis in attendance, remembers being introduced to a much smaller and younger Yuzu. This world’s Kisuke however had paid very little attention, having little reason to.

“You can sit wherever you like,” Yuzu is telling them as she slides open the door, but Kisuke’s attention has been lost.

Across from the door, near one end of the low table, sits Ichigo. He’s leaning to the side slightly, listening intently as a tanner Karin tells him something, but his eyes flick to the open door and meet Kisuke’s for a moment. Kisuke feels his breath catch. He doesn’t stumble, possesses too much grace and training for something like that, and manages not to freeze, but it’s a near thing and for just a moment he hesitates at the door.

He’d only had the hazy, dispassionate memories of this world’s Kisuke to compare to before and they certainly didn’t do Ichigo any justice. He’s as pretty as Kisuke remembers him, but the Shihouin blood as resulted in slightly more narrow shoulders, a thinner ribcage, and a sharper jaw. They’re tiny differences however and for the most part Ichigo’s as he ever was, except for the eyes. They’re sharp and gold, as piercing and clever as Kisuke remembers him but just a little more breathtaking.

Unfortunately, everyone notices Kisuke’s attention being arrested. Ichigo and Karin narrow their eyes in tandem, looking suspicious and so dearly familiar. Yoruichi jabs him in the kidney from behind to get him moving again. Kuukaku, sidling past to take a seat at the table, eyes him in confusion. Kisuke composes himself and with as casual an air as he can maintain takes the seat across from Ichigo.

“Hello, Shiba-san,” Kisuke says, nodding at him in greeting, trying to cover for his earlier slip.

Ichigo doesn’t seem to buy it.

“Urahara-taichou,” he replies, speech clipped and manner as insouciant as ever. It settles something in Kisuke to see that this Ichigo and his Ichigo aren’t entirely dissimilar.

He’s left Kisuke with no openings to continue the conversation but fortunately at that point servants are bringing in the meal.

The meal passes pleasantly, Kisuke’s mind cataloging everything that’s said even while most of his focus lingers on Ichigo. The bulk of conversation falls to the women as Kisuke is too preoccupied sneaking glances at Ichigo and Ichigo alternates between focusing on his food and scowling at Kisuke, distrustful. Kisuke knows he should try for that subtleness Yoruichi spoke of earlier, but he’s out of practice, and besides he doesn’t want to be.

He has an opportunity here that he can’t bring himself to waste. By the time he had begun flirting with Ichigo back home Ichigo had been trying to catch his attention for months. Nothing he did phased the man and the flirtation only lasted for a couple weeks, the situation too dire for a drawn out courtship.

Here though, he could have some fun.

Kisuke moves his dishes to the side and sets an arm on the table so he can lean forward towards Ichigo, who stiffens at the move.

“How are you, Shiba-san? You’re looking, good, as always,” Kisuke says softly, trying not to garner attention from Kuukaku at the other end of the table.

“What?” Ichigo’s baffled reply makes the smile on Kisuke’s face widen.

“I’m asking how you are,” Kisuke explains, shifting his fan into his hand to flutter coyly in Ichigo’s general direction. “It’s called making small talk.”

Ichigo looks at Kisuke like he’s never seen anything like him before, completely nonplussed.

“I’m fine,” he eventually answers, tone completely uninviting for further conversation. At his elbow Karin is examining Kisuke with interest, and a little like she’s trying to determine the best place to punch him.

“You certainly are,” agrees Kisuke. Before he can continue in his quest to get this Ichigo to blush he’s interrupted by Kuukaku calling down the table, trying to get Ichigo to back her up on some sort of story she’s telling to Yoruichi and Yuzu.

Dinner wraps up and Yuzu and Karin leave as alcohol comes out, the two younger ones growing bored of the adults anyway. They say goodbye to Yoruichi and Kisuke politely enough but Karin makes sure to squint menacingly at Kisuke before exiting the room.

Before Kuukaku can do more than pour for the others she’s interrupted by a servant kneeling beside her to whisper in her ear.

“Really?” they hear her hiss back. The servant nods, looking apologetic. “Fine. Sorry, I’ll be right back. I arranged for a small firework show for everyone tonight but there appears to be a problem.”

She leaves in a huff and as soon as the door shuts behind her Ichigo is leveling a stern glare on the pair of them.

“You can tell Central that I’m keeping up my end of the bargain,” he spits out at them, voice tight and low and shoulders stiff.

“Shiba-san! I am hurt by your accusation,” Kisuke gasps dramatically, hand to his heart. Ichigo clenches his jaw in response.

“Ichi-bo, we’re not here on their behalf,” Yoruichi tries, swatting at Kisuke. “And you, behave, you’re not helping here.”

“Yeah, sure. Two captains, you two at that, arranging a way in here, and you expect me to believe you’re not here to check up on me? Kuukaku-nee doesn’t often give much notice before visiting but usually it’s more than two days.” He’s giving off every impression of anger, but Kisuke can see a hint of fear lingering in the tightness around his eyes, the way they flicker to the exits automatically.

“What do you mean by us two?” Yoruichi pouts, doubtlessly trying to defuse some of the tension. “I’m your cousin aren’t I?”

“Sure, you also have never shown much interest in me before and Urahara-taichou I could have sworn didn’t even remember my name. You’re also both Onmitsukido.”

“Ah, ah, ah!” Kisuke interjects. “I am _ex_ -onmitsukido. Now I’m just your average friendly, handsome, Twelfth Division captain.”

The skeptical look Ichigo gives him feels unnecessary and Kisuke hides his sulkiness behind his fan. Yoruichi on the other hand does little to hide her growing exasperation. She catches Kisuke’s eye before running a hand through her hair, fingers curling into a sign that means ‘follow my lead’ as she does.

“Okay. We’re here to check up on you, but it’s not for Central 46. We’ve been asked by a couple of concerned parties to figure out what’s going on. And, despite everything, you are family you know. I do care about you.” She reaches out a hand like she wants to cover Ichigo’s with her own but he pulls back before she can.

“Who asked you?”

“Hirako-taichou is very concerned about you, Ichigo-chan,” Kisuke teases.

“Kuukaku also asked for our help, you can ask her if you don’t believe us.”

Ichigo sits back a little, tension still evident but face turning thoughtful.

“Just because they asked you doesn’t mean you aren’t also here because of Central 46,” Ichigo points out and at any other time Kisuke would be proud of his suspicion and caution but right now Kisuke could really do without it.

“It’s clear that there is something rotten in Seireitei, what’s happening to you, that’s just the canary in the coal mine,” Yoruichi tries.

Ichigo rubs his hands over his face.

“Even if I believe you, there’s nothing I can tell you,” he says.

“Anything could be useful, just tell us what you think happened,” says Yoruichi soothingly.

“No. I _can’t_ tell you,” Ichigo bites out. He yanks his yukata open to show his left pec, something that Kisuke would normally enjoy immensely, but when he sees it Kisuke feels something drop in his stomach.

There’s a kido seal on Ichigo. One he’s seen before. It’s a suicide seal meant to prevent Onmitsukido from talking in the event of their capture. Typically triggered by a certain phrase or word but also able to be triggered remotely, it causes a large explosion when activated.

“If I say anything about what happened this thing goes off. It was the only way they agreed to let me return to my family.”

“Shit,” Yoruichi says, leaning forward to get a closer look. Kisuke is doing the same on the other side, going so far as to lift his hand to brush it against Ichigo’s chest causing the younger man to startle and swiftly pull his clothes shut. A light blush rises to his cheeks and Kisuke wishes he could enjoy it, but his mind is racing.

“This type of seal isn’t able to discern complex linguistic usage, so it must be tied to a specific word or phrase related to whatever happened, but without knowing what that is it would be safer to say nothing at all,” Kisuke explains.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do, but people keep badgering me,” huffs Ichigo. He straightens the collar of his yukata around his neck.

“We’d take it off you, but this type of seal would notify the caster if it’s removed, and that would be a disaster,” Yoruichi says as she leans back, sprawling casually. She looks relaxed but Kisuke can see the agitation in her.

“Look, it’s fine. All I have to do is stay quiet and keep my head down.” Ichigo sighs as he finishes talking, looking like he’s trying to convince himself along with them.

“It’s not right that this happened to you,” Kisuke argues. Yoruichi nods beside him.

“But it did happen, and now I just have to live with it,” Ichigo shrugs.

“No you don’t, because we will figure this out,” Yoruichi tells him, reaching over to nudge him in the shoulder.

They all fall silent for a minute, Yoruichi busy drinking, Kisuke busy thinking, and Ichigo looking like he’s having a silent debate with himself.

“The day after that last, thing, I did for the division,” he begins slowly, carefully choosing his words. “The lieutenant asked me a lot of questions, like he thought I was sick. And sometimes I feel like I’m being watched, but I can’t prove it.” He hesitates. "I've also been having a lot of strange dreams since then."

Yoruichi and Kisuke share a look before turning to face Ichigo again.

“Thank you, for trusting us.” Yoruichi says. In the distance they can hear footsteps coming down the hall. “We’ll figure this out Ichi-bo, don’t worry.”

“Sure,” is all Ichigo says as Kuukaku throws open the door, crowing her success over fixing whatever issue took her attention for the last ten minutes. “What could go wrong?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot congeals. Next few chapters should see us moving forward on this mystery. Pls keep reviewing, I am a creature desirous of affirmation.


	4. South 22nd

It’s three more days until Kisuke is able to get away again without undue attention, mostly from Hiyori who has unfortunately taken to watching him like a hawk. She’s decided he’s planning something and is determined not to fall for it. It almost makes Kisuke want to plan something, just to meet her expectations.

Instead he finishes all his paperwork, makes the weekly inspection of the division, warns Mayuri off a particularly morally dubious project, and generally makes like an actually competent captain for once.

Hiyori develops a twitch in her eye but can’t actually complain because technically he’s doing everything she’s spent years berating him about.

On Wednesday, a little after noon he, calls her up to his office, which he has spent more time in during the past week than he can remember doing in the last two years of his captaincy back in his original world. She enters with a level of misgiving that feels unfair considering Kisuke has done literally nothing to earn such distrust. Well, technically he did replace the consciousness of her captain with his own, but that hardly counts.

“Yes, Urahara-taichou?” she says as she enters. The words are technically polite, but the tone is barely restrained hostility. If Kisuke didn’t find it so amusing he might find it insulting.

“I have business out in Rukongai. I won’t be back at the division today, but I should be in tomorrow unless I am delayed.” He’s gathering up things he might need, which is mostly just his wallet and fan, he debates leaving his haori but decides the authority of a captain might be useful.

“What possible business could _you_ have in Rukongai?”

“Why Hiyori, are you interested in my personal life?” Kisuke asks her, tone sly. She immediately makes a face at him.

“As if!” she barks. “Who cares what you do? I’ll watch the division since your _personal life_ is apparently more important than your job, idiot.” Hiyori storms out, slamming the door behind her to block out Kisuke’s laughter.

Kisuke leaves without bothering to talk to anyone else, making his way out of Seireitei at a good pace. Originally Yoruichi was meant to join him on his expedition out to the South 22nd District, but she’s been far busier than he has between her duties to her clan, her division, and the Onmitsukido, so Kisuke is left to go it alone.  
  
He hesitates at the southern gate. He could take a detour by Koganetsuchi, try to convince Ichigo to accompany him. He’s not entirely aware of all of Ichigo’s restrictions as imposed by Central 46, but they seem to only limit his entry to Seireitei, not confine him to his home. Having Ichigo along might prove useful, but it could also be tempting fate with that seal in play.

His desire to spend time with Ichigo wars with his desire to keep him safe.

Eventually he takes off, eastward. Ichigo is an adult and can make his own decision and wouldn’t appreciate the thought that he was being left out of something that concerned him later.

As he nears the house he lets his reiatsu unfurl, just a little, as is polite. He doesn’t have much expectation that Ichigo would notice, but it’s a habit long ingrained in him. To his surprise Ichigo meets him at the gateway to the house, looking impatient and put out.

That’s when he remembers that this Ichigo grew up in Soul Society and has had decades of experience with reiatsu.

“What do you want,” Ichigo asks, blunt as ever as Kisuke lands in front of him.

“Hello, Shiba-san. You’re looking well today,” Kisuke replies. It’s true. He’s wearing a deep blue robe that sets his hair off beautifully and gray hakama and looks like he was just enjoying some vigorous exercise if the slight flush and sweat linger at his temples means anything. It’s a very good look for Ichigo.

It’s surprising however to stand in front of him and find himself looking down. This Ichigo is shorter than his Ichigo was even at fifteen, though only by an inch or so.

Ichigo scoffs, pulling the edge of his sleeve across his brow. “Sure, gonna answer the question?”

“Of course, Shiba-san! I was planning on taking a walk out to South 22nd and was wondering if you’d like to join me.”

“And what are you expecting to find out there?” asks Ichigo slowly, clearly picking through his words with caution. A hand clenches at his side and Kisuke wants to badly in that moment to take it and lay a kiss to those tense knuckles.

He doesn’t though.

“Well, I won’t know that until I get there, will I?” he says instead, keeping his voice light and airy. He even brings out his fan for good measure.

“You know, I’ve heard stories about you, I’ve even met you before, and you were never like this,” Ichigo pulls back a little and lets his eyes drag over Kisuke top to bottom, like he’s trying to figure Kisuke out.

“I’ve decided to be true to myself.”

“You sure you didn’t get like, a head injury?” Ichigo leans in closely, pushing himself up on his toes to examine Kisuke’s head closely. Kisuke would find it cute if he wasn’t being insulted.

“Why do people keep asking that? It’s really rather rude you know.” He’s pouting and he knows it, but it seems worth it when Ichigo laughs a little. “Do you want to come with me or not?”

He hesitates visibly. “Do you think it’s safe?”

As he asks, he glances back at the house behind them, making his real concern obvious. He’s asking less for himself and more for his family, which is unsurprising. The Ichigo Kisuke knew would never have taken what’s happened to him quietly, unless he thought he was protecting someone by doing so.

“We’ll be careful, and I’ll be watching. You want to figure out what’s going on, don’t you?”

“I want to know who to blame,” Ichigo tells him. “And then I want to punch them.”

Kisuke can’t stop the twitch of his lip into a smile, and then realizes he doesn’t need to stop it, he’s allowed to be honest in his reactions with Ichigo. He’s, happy, that this Ichigo is so much like his own. There’s something comforting in the consistency of Ichigo’s soul.

“Shall we go then, we have quite a run,” he isn’t worried about Ichigo making it, the man was a fifth seat after all.

“Let me just tell my sisters I’ll be gone, and maybe grab a couple things,” he turns to head back into the house before pausing and turning back. “Should I bring a sword?”

Something in Kisuke recoils at the idea of Ichigo wielding a sword that wasn’t Zangetsu, but he couldn’t say that.

“Don’t worry Shiba-san! I’ll protect you,” he teases instead, although utterly serious.

“I’m bringing a sword, just in case I need to stab you with it,” Ichigo says as he walks off into the house.

_Ichigo really is very cute_ , Kisuke thinks as he watches the redhead leave.

* * *

Kisuke has always enjoyed watching Ichigo move, the power, the control, the total awareness he had in his body at all times was breathtaking, but despite all of that Ichigo had never been particularly graceful or elegant. He was never clumsy, beyond those first few days as he grew into his monstrous sword, but the way he moved could never before be described as sinuous.

This Ichigo though, he is power and grace, control and elegance, possess that same awareness of body but also the experience to make each movement easy and clear. It’s a reminder of the difference between his Ichigo and this one, but also distractingly attractive. Kisuke wonders, if given time and enough peace, whether his Ichigo could have become this, or it it’s a product of Shihouin blood, or maybe just the result of clan life.

He pushes aside more negative thoughts, instead letting himself linger a moment longer on his enjoyment of watching Ichigo as he shunpos a little in front of Kisuke, leading the way to where he’d been sent on his mission two days before being snatched by Central 46.

Kisuke isn’t entirely sure what to expect when gets there. Ichigo was sent on a standard hollow slaying mission, but there’s a destroyed town involved somewhere according to Shinji. The report from that mission had quickly been classified and redacted by Central 46, but Shinji remembered enough of It to give Kisuke a basic rundown of events.

The 5th Division received a mission out to South 22nd District because of reports of a Hollow with incredible speed, the decision was made to send Ichigo as he is currently one of the fastest in Seireitei. So far, reasonable. Once there Ichigo located and, after a difficult fight, dispatched the Hollow, which Ichigo commented on in his report as being completely silent during the battle, unusual for a Hollow. Afterwards, as Ichigo prepared to leave the district, everything went blacked and he remembered nothing more until he awoke some hours later in a small, demolished town devoid of life. Ichigo could not account for the lost hours, and so shaken and confused he returned to Seireitei.

The pair stand in the rocky outcropping area where Ichigo had his fight with the Hollow as Kisuke flips through his notes, Ichigo reading over his shoulder. There are still traces of the battle which took place in the smashed boulders, damaged cliff face, and deep gouges embedded in the ground. Unfortunately, too much time has passed for Kisuke to retrieve and samples of the Hollow or its reiatsu.

“Did anything else about the Hollow seem odd, besides its speed or silence?” Kisuke asks, slowly moving around the battlefield, gathering what information he can.

Ichigo hesitates before saying, “It was small, for a... Almost human sized.”

Kisuke hates that Ichigo is so shackled, not free to speak his mind.

“Human sized… was it human shaped?” Kisuke asked, sharply.

“Vaguely? It was kind of, the joints were odd, and it had,” here Ichigo gestured to his sword and then his own arms.

“It had blades for arms?” Kisuke confirmed, feeling a plummeting in his stomach. “Ichigo, this is very important, it’s Hollow Hole, did it have a red mass inside it?”

“No? I would have mentioned something like that in the report.” Ichigo frowned at him. “What’s wrong? You look, upset.”

Kisuke calms himself instantly, making sure to plaster on a meaningless little smile to aim at Ichigo, while internally his mind whirls. He’d thought for a moment that the Hollow Ichigo fought had been White, but it was much too soon for Aizen to have completed that particular creation. Still, what Ichigo had fought sounds similar. A prototype perhaps?

“Did anything strange happen during your fight?”

“No, not really. It was a tough one, and the thing got me a few times, but not real bad.” Ichigo flexes his left hand, remembering a past injury maybe.

“Hmmm, did it bite you?”

“Well, yeah, but that’s not strange,” Ichigo points out. Hollows often try to take a bite out of their opponent.

“Where did it bite you?” Kisuke asks, stepping closer to Ichigo.

“My neck,” Ichigo begins to answer before clamping his mouth shut in surprise as Kisuke snatches the collar of his robe, yanking it to the side to inspect Ichigo’s neck. With his other hand Kisuke gently tilts Ichigo’s head side to side so he can get a good look, leaning down a little. He hums thoughtfully as he traces Ichigo’s neck with his fingers, looking for a scar. “Wha-what are you doing,” Ichigo chokes out, reaching up a hand to grasp Kisuke’s fingers, pulling Kisuke’s attention from the young man’s neck to his face. His very red face.  
  
“Oh? Am I making you uncomfortably, Shiba-san?” teases Kisuke, enjoying the moment immensely, even though Ichigo is slowly tightening his grip on Kisuke’s fingers and it’s starting to become a little painful.

“Just, why are you fucking touching me?”

“I wanted to see if you had any scarring from the Hollow, and also, you have a very fine neck, Shiba-san.”

Ichigo’s face takes on an alarming amount of red as he scowls at Kisuke, tugging his hand away from Ichigo’s neck before releasing him and stepping back, pulling his kimono out of Kisuke’s grasp as well.

“Is now really the time for that sort of thing?” he asks. Kisuke can tell he’s struggling for composure.

“One should always make time for the things in life that bring them joy,” Kisuke tells him with a song in his voice.

“Joy?” Ichigo sputters, looking to the side as a hand comes up to rub at the back of his neck. “You’re crazy…”

Kisuke eyes him closely, watches his body language, the still growing flush, considers whether or not he can trust what he knows about his Ichigo to compare with this one.

“If it truly makes you uncomfortable, I will stop,” Kisuke tells him, more serious than he usually lets himself seem. Ichigo seems to freeze up at that before relaxing, tension leaving him all at once but red continuing to spread to his ears. It’s fascinating to Kisuke.

“Do what you want,” Ichigo finally tells him, still not turning to look at him. “Shouldn’t we get going to the next spot?”

“You’re absolutely right, Shiba-san. We are, as they say, burning daylight here,” Kisuke tells him, voice full of genuine cheer as he pulls out his fan to hide the honesty of his smile. Because Ichigo telling him to do what he wanted, well, that was as bright a green light as he could expect.

“Who says that? What does that mean?” Ichigo asks him as he takes off towards their destination.

“Remind me to introduce you to Shakespeare later, Shiba-san.”

“Who?”

* * *

The town, more a village than anything else, is certainly demolished. Not a single building stands undamaged when the two of them arrive in the debris scattered town square. South 22nd District had always been a barren and desolate place, low in population despite being rather safe from Hollows. The dry rocky soil wasn’t very hospitable to growing the trees or fibers people needed for shelter, warmth, and clothes even if they could exist without food, and water too was rare here. The cliffs and canyons also made travel difficult for those who couldn’t walk on air. Despite this a few small towns had popped up over time in the area.

Kisuke wandered around the square, attention on the ground. There were no recent tracks, no sign that looters had been by, but that wasn’t too unusual, undoubtedly the locals considered the place cursed, and there was little of value to tempt anyway.

Nothing noteworthy lingered in the air, no strange energy or smell, but given that this had occurred over two months ago that wasn’t too surprising.

“This is where I woke up,” Ichigo calls to him, standing on the path that leads in from the north side of town. Kisuke heads over to stand by him, squatting to examine the dirt. There’s a rust colored spot of dirt.

“Your blood?” he asks, looking up at Ichigo. Ichigo shifts, as though uncomfortable, squinting around him through the harsh glare of the sun.

“Yeah, I had a gash in my side,” Ichigo explains, putting a hand to his left side.

“Hmm,” Kisuke brushes his fingers to the ground, digging a little to see how deep the blood soaked in. “How did was the injury, Shiba-san? How large?”

Ichigo looks down at him, “Uh, not that deep, couple inches, about this long,” he marks a distance on his side about five inches long. “It was pretty minor.”

Kisuke gives him a look. “That is not a minor injury, Shiba-san.” Ichigo shrugged at him, as unconcerned as ever by evidence of the fragility of his own body.

“Then, based on the size of the wound and the amount of blood here, you probably laid for between thirty minutes and an hour. How much time did you say you had lost?” Kisuke stood up, turning to face Ichigo.

“It was a few hours, four or so?”

“It’s only fifteen minutes here from where you fought, by shunpo. You lost awareness at the battlefield?”

“Yeah, I finished up, was getting ready to return home, then woke up here,” he gestures to the ground at their feet.

“How unsettling,” Kisuke murmurs, tapping his fan against his lip in thought. “And the town was already destroyed?”

“Yeah.”

“And the bodies?” Kisuke hadn’t seen any sign of any bodies, and that was odd. No spilt blood but Ichigo’s, no sign of struggle, no recent graves. Perhaps whatever investigatory force took the bodies, but that seemed unlikely.

“What bodies? There weren’t any,” Ichigo said, frowning. “There weren’t any bodies… but all of this…” he waved a hand at the destruction around them.

“You didn’t realize before?”

“I was thinking about other things, okay. I figured, I just didn’t notice. There must have been bodies right? That’s why I was, they said I…” Ichigo trailed off, looking upset.

“I can’t see any sign that there were ever any bodies here, but we haven’t check inside the buildings yet. He eyes Ichigo, trying to judge his level of distress. “Can you help me with that, Shiba-san? We can meet back here in a few minutes?” Perhaps giving Ichigo a moment to collect himself without an audience would help.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll take the south side of town,” He mumbles before taking off.

Kisuke does the same towards the north. Some of the buildings are too damaged to enter safely, or at all, roofs and walls collapsed or leaning precariously, others could maybe someday be repaired if someone cared enough to expend the effort.

It’s hard to tell what exactly damage them, some look as though they’ve been cleaved by a massive sword, others have marks like something was thrown into them, and in other places it seems like the very ground itself shook until it tore down the buildings upon it. Kisuke knows it would be fairly easy for Ichigo to destroy a bunch of wooden and earth buildings, but this doesn’t look quite like how he’d do it.

There are no bodies, no blood. There’s no sign that people left either though, personal objects still littering the area. Eerie.

He meets Ichigo back at the appointed spot, wearing a smile to match the other’s frown.

“Absolutely nothing, how about you, Shiba-san?”

“Nothing,” he shook his head. “How could they have missed this?”

“I think perhaps they didn’t care,” Kisuke tells him. “Whatever occurred here, it wasn’t you. You were also a victim, or maybe a witness.”

“A witness? But I don’t remember anything,” protests Ichigo, frustration rising.

“Maybe there’s a reason for that. Maybe you don’t remember because they don’t want you to.”

“Who is they?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” cheers Kisuke before he has to duck as Ichigo takes a swing at him. “Now, now, Shiba-san, there’s no need for that is there?”

“Don’t take this so lightly, asshole. This is my life,” he growls at Kisuke.

“I’m not taking it lightly at all, I assure you. Whoever did this is powerful and has impressive pull with the governing body of Seireitei. They also have something that can cause Shinigami to lose time or forget memories. All in all, they are a very dangerous individual.” Kisuke explains.

He’s positive at this point that it’s Aizen. A strange hollow, something capable of affecting a Shinigami as powerful as Ichigo in such a manner, over a hundred souls just vanished, Central 46 punishing Ichigo without any hard evidence of wrong doing? It all reeks of Aizen and his machinations. Undoubtedly, they’ve run into some of Aizen’s early experiments in his quest to achieve of his goals.

He only wishes he knew exactly what happened to Ichigo. He’d suggest an examination, but he’s pretty sure Ichigo would try to punch him again.

Ichigo looks at him, focused on his face as he calms down.

“You know who it is, don’t you?”

“What makes you say that, Shiba-san,” Kisuke deflects.

“You’re acting like you expected this, like it’s not that surprising to you.”

It’s unfair that Ichigo can read him so well, but perhaps he’s just gotten less adept at hiding from Ichigo.

“Telling you might put you in more danger, your family too.”

“Or by telling me I’ll be better able to protect myself.”

“There’s more than just your position at stake.”

“That’s pretty obvious. Something happened to these people here, and it wasn’t good,” he waves a hand around them, agitated.

“I’m trying to protect you,” admits Kisuke. This Ichigo isn’t his Ichigo, hasn’t faced all that his Ichigo has, doesn’t even have his zanpakutou to defend himself with.

“You don’t get to decide that, asshole.”

“My, you sure are being rude with a captain,” Kisuke says, unable to help his amusement.

“Technically, I’m not in the Gotei-13 anymore, I don’t have to be respectful.”

The two stand, only inches between them, having unconsciously closed the distance during their argument. Eventually Kisuke huffs, stepping away. Ichigo had always been the only thing capable of making him lose his hard fought for restraint.

“You probably won’t believe me,” he says, sure of this. Aizen always knew how to cover his tracks, to play the part of the perfect man.

“Try me.” Ichigo spat, like it was a dare.

“I have, suspicions, regarding a certain man. I believe he is attempting to use souls to modify hollows.” It’s a very barebones explanation, not a lie, but certainly not the whole truth.

“Okay, but why though?”

“Curiosity? Power? Just because he can? Because he wasn’t raised right?” Kisuke shrugs.

“Sure, why not?” Ichigo laughs. “Tell me who, Urahara-san.”

“Aizen,” Kisuke says with a sigh. “It’s Aizen.”

“You think Aizen-fukutaichou is behind all this?” Ichigo asks, blankly. Kisuke nods at him, preparing not to be believed. “I always knew there was something off about that guy.”

Kisuke quickly whips his fan up to hide his face, afraid he might be gaping at Ichigo.

“What makes you say that, Shiba-san?”

“Just, call me Ichigo or something, there are way too many Shibas running around.” Ichigo ran a hand through his hair. “And, I don’t know, the one time we sparred, it was weird. It felt like…”

“It felt like what, Ichigo-san?”

“It felt like he was lying.”

* * *

With nothing else able to be learned in the village they set off back towards Koganetsuchi and the Shiba house there. Kisuke’s learned less than he hoped to, but more than he’d truly expected. His main concern now is just what Aizen did to Ichigo, but figuring that out might be impossible.

As the pair land outside the house Kisuke reaches without thinking to grab Ichigo by the wrist before he can duck through the gate.

“Ichigo-san, I’m rather worried about whatever it was that was done to make you black out the way you did. Would you mind letting me do some tests?”

“Tests? Where?”

“Well, on your body, of course,” Kisuke answers thoughtlessly.

“No, I mean, where do you want to conduct the tests.” Ichigo tells him, looking at him like he think’s Kisuke’s a moron.

“Oh, of course Ichigo-san,” Kisuke laughs, fan out to cover. “I was merely teasing.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“As for location, it would be easiest to do so at the Twelfth, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Can’t, remember?” Ichigo shrugs, aiming for casual but looking uncomfortable instead. “I can only enter Seireitei with permission from Central 46.”

Kisuke curses in his own mind, he had forgotten. It will certainly be more difficult to conduct any tests out here, but not impossible. He’ll have to bring some supplies out though, and that could attract attention.

“Then, would you be opposed to me coming to visit you here, tomorrow? I just want to make sure no further surprises are instore for you.” Kisuke asks. He isn’t upset at spending more time with Ichigo.

“Yeah, that’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m busy,” Ichigo says with a self-deprecating laugh. “Aren’t you worried though that someone might notice how much time you’re spending with me?”

“Someone like a certain lieutenant? Don’t worry Ichigo-san, I’m sure people will come to their own conclusions on why I’m spending so much time with you.” Ichigo looks confused so Kisuke explains further. “You’re very handsome, Ichigo-san.”

Immediately Kisuke gets to watch as that red flush climbed over Ichigo’s cheeks again.

“Fine, whatever, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says, trying to pull away. Kisuke tightens his grip to prevent him from leaving.

“Wait, before you go, since this happened, have you experienced any side effects?” Kisuke asks. “Anything at all?”

Ichigo stops, runs his free hand over the back of his hand before turning and looking back up at Kisuke. For just a moment Kisuke lets his hand drop from Ichigo’s wrist to his hand, squeezing gently before releasing.

“Like what?”

“Trouble sleeping, loss of time, dizziness, anything really,” lists Kisuke, focused entirely on observing Ichigo.

The young man hesitates, fidgets with the sword at his waist, a plain thing that looks so _wrong_ on Ichigo’s hip.

“I’ve been having nightmares, I guess,” he finally relents when it becomes clear that Kisuke is willing to wait for his answer.

“What kind of nightmares?” Kisuke asks gently.

“It’s the same nightmare really. I don’t have it every night, but, it’s been growing more common. I dream that there’s a monster inside me, and it wants out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Burning daylight is a phrase maybe first written in Romeo & Juliet. 
> 
> I'm sure you all are wondering, why do I only post at like 2 am? And to that I reply time is fake and I don't sleep.
> 
> Also, regrettably I got another idea for a fic, Uraichi again and somewhat fairytale inspired. But I really shouldn't do it, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Expecting regular updates from me would be a mistake, but I will do my best. Please come yell with me about this fic in the comments. I will appreciate.
> 
> (regrettably I haven't had a tumblr in years and am too scared to go back)


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